The Alchemy of Becoming: A Path to Paradise | Ft. Naomi Cowan - Let's Talk Di Tings

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
There are artists who sing, and then there are artists
who invite you into their world, their paradise. Naomi Cohen
has always been the latter. Whether she's blending reggae, pop
or soul, Naomi's gift is her ability to make listeners

(00:22):
feel seen. Her music has always carried a light, the
kind that doesn't blind you, but guides you to me.
Her debut album, Welcome to Paradise, which I absolutely love,
honors her familiar legacy and reflects her growth, her self belief,

(00:44):
and the courage it takes to walk in alignment. This
conversation is a beautiful reminder that God shows up in
the details, in his timing, and in the unexpected sweetness
that follows transformation. This episode is not just about music.

(01:06):
It's about legacy, self actualization, resilience, discernment, and the importance
of focusing on what you can control. It is truly
the perfect cherry on top to an amazing season. I

(01:28):
cannot believe this season is over already, and I also
cannot believe that we got through a whole season, because
if you've been here since season one, you know last
season we stopped in July, but we made it the
whole way through, so I'm proud of us for that,
and I just want to thank our LTDT family and

(01:52):
our amazing guests for an incredible season of learning, unlearning, introspection,
and of course a lot of laughter because you know
I can't ever manage. So I hope all of you
have a safe and enjoyable holiday, and we will be

(02:12):
back for season four. I cannot believe I'm saying that
season four in twenty twenty six, So for the last
time in twenty twenty five, grab your tea, coffee or
a glass of wine and Let's Talk the Things. If

(02:38):
you're listening to the podcast on Apple Podcast, please remember
to rate and leave a comment below. Also, don't forget
to follow us on Instagram at Let's Talk the Things. Now,
grab your tea, coffee or a glass of wine and
Let's talk the Things. Hello everyone, Welcome back to Let's

(03:01):
Talk the Things, where we discuss personal growth, music, travel
and film while encouraging you to live fearlessly and fabulously.
I'm your host, Ash and this week we are talking
to Things with a woman born into a lineage that
helped shape the soundscape of Jamaican music, and while she

(03:24):
could have followed in a prepared path. Instead, she has
carved out her own. Her music isn't simply about melody.
It's about identity, self discovery, and emotional liberation. Singer, songwriter
and actress Naomi Cohen, Hi, Naomi, how are you?

Speaker 2 (03:43):
Hi Ashley, I'm good. I'm very good. How are you?
I'm good? So nice to have you. Thank you for
having me of course.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
Of course, so as a little icebreaker to start off,
we have our favorite segment and it's called that no
sound safe. So basically what it is, it's nothing too crazy.
I'm just going to read messages or social media posts
that listeners sent in, and if you think it sounds

(04:12):
crazy or a little concerning, you'd say that sounds safe,
explain why, and then if you agree, you just say
you agree and explain why.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
That sounds good? All right, sounds good? Cool? All right?

Speaker 1 (04:24):
So the first person said, choose people who match your values,
otherwise you'll end up explaining the obvious, defending the simple,
and feeling guilty just for being yourself. I agree, Yeah,
I think that sounds vera sure.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
I mean, and yeah, I think it's it actually just
keeps your life simpler, As you said, it's just and
it's not a you know, not judgment type thing, but honestly,
you know, if you spend a lot of your time
trying to explain to people where you stand it, it's exhausting.
You know. Sure, I have lots of things in the

(05:04):
world that's already do that, So why why choose that,
you know, in your personal life? Exactly?

Speaker 1 (05:09):
And I think sometimes when you're just a good hearted person,
you may have good intentions thinking like, oh, you know,
maybe I can change this person, or maybe not even
that direct, maybe just like you feel a sense of
empathy for maybe what they've gone through that makes them
like that, so you figure like, oh, you know, so
and so been through this, so they're not really a

(05:31):
bad person. But you know, but like you said, it's
just going to drain you because people can't meet you
where they haven't met themselves. So exactly, Oh, you're always
going to be exhausted trying to get them to see
your points of view, for sure. Yeah, exactly, definitely, definitely, Okay, exactly,

(05:52):
So that first one sounds safe. We agree on that,
all right. The next person said, now I get why
my grandmother got up early to have a little coffee
by herself girl, me too.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Oh yeahs agree. I mean I think, you know, stillness
is important, and we're kind of taught to get up
and get going and check our phones and all this
kind of stuff, and so that like a moment you

(06:25):
can take for many people my life it's coffee, tea, whatever, water.
That really is almost like a moment of meditation, even
if you're not meditates per se. But it's just that
that is a meditative moment for you, yes, you know,
and as as life gets more demanding, you actually have

(06:47):
to fight to take those moments for yourself or else. Yeah,
you just wake up and days go by and you haven't.
So yeah, I'm with grandma.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
And I think it's also about like enforcing boundaries, right,
because in that same realm, if you're always on the
go and always even maybe trying to overextend yourself and
help everybody, people will take if you give. You know,
there's very few people you meet that have the cognisance yeah,
the cognisance yeah, or the emotional intelligence to say, you

(07:22):
know what, you're always doing things for me, like let
me not ask you for much like most.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
People are like, oh you can help me.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
First thing in the morning, or you can listen to
my story about this guy I'm dating.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
First thing. When you get up, I'm gonna keep.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
Calling you mean, so yeah, like those moments are definitely
important for sure.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
Yeah, yeah, all right, three more.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
The next person said, sometimes I feel like my life
is being written by someone who isn't sure if they
like me or not.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Oh safe, that's all. No, that does sound safe. I
mean I get that, I get it, but it's it
does sound safe because then, you know, it kind of
makes you feel as though your life is just going
and you're not in control or you have no contribution

(08:14):
to the overall thing. So I try to avoid like
conversations like that, even in my own head. It's hard, obviously,
because it's easier to just go into a bit of
a victim mindset or you know. But over time, like
your brain will adjust to whatever you tell it, you know,
so you have to be conscientious of that and so

(08:37):
true and just recognize, Yeah, so I get that there
are some days where you're like, what is happening? Or
I make an effort to not fall into that pattern
too often, just because you look around and months later
you're just like you hate everything, you hate yourself. You
hate your life, you hate what's around you. So even no,

(09:00):
I mean, I'm a very sarcastic person and I have
really dry humor, but I don't play around with the
words I speak over myself. For sure. I love that.
That's where I kind of you know, I have a
hard drove to line. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah no.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
And you know what, I'm really glad you brought that up,
like the way that you speak to yourself, because I
think a lot of times we hear jargon and conversation
about like, oh, you know, how you should speak to
others and how you should receive words from others. But
like you said, the thoughts that you have are so important,
and it reminds me of something my mom always says,
you know, your thoughts are with you twenty four seven.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
Right, So it's.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
Kind of like when you do something wrong or you know,
when we were little, and you know, I would say,
I remember I would say to my mom sometimes like
you should be happy. I'm not you know, I'm not
a bad kid. I'm not doing bad things. Yeah yeah,
but that's for yourself. That's you should be happy for yourself.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
I know, all the time because because like her thought was,
are trying to get me to realize when you don't
do bad things, when you're a good person, that's good
for you, that's good for your conscience. Correct, you know
what that means. So I'm really glad you brought that
up because I think a lot of times that's something
a lot of a lot of us don't really understand

(10:22):
and sit with that. Like the words we tell ourselves
is what we end up believing about ourselves, and we
can be really harsh on ourselves sometimes for sure.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, I'm just me. I'm one of those people. So
I am.

Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, soon safe, we get it. But I think there's
a little work around in there.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
All right.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
Two more, next person said, be careful with who you
vent to remember this vents go to other rooms too.
Oh wow, yeah that's a word.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah that sounds safe. Yeah, I mean, I I mean,
for example, I do think that we have different people
placed in our life for different things, and we have
to be mindful of where everybody is at in their
journey obviously, Like meaning, first of all, you know, you

(11:20):
don't really need to talk to a bunch of people
about a bunch of things, but separate and apart from that,
the truth is that you have to be mindful of
where someone someone is in an area that you might
be seeking support because just as an example, like, let's say,
if you are like, for example, I don't listen might

(11:40):
sone always, but I rarely really talk to like when
it comes to love and relationships, right, I try. I
don't really talk to like if I'm if I'm in
a relationship, for example, it don't make sense to me
to always be discussing certain things, not necessarily with a

(12:02):
single friend, like somebody that is carrying a lot of hurt.
I don't think it's wrong, It's just that not everyone
has capacity and maturity to to separate their hurt from yours. Yes,
you know, but that takes a lot of mindfulness, like meaning,
because I do have, for example, I do have friends

(12:22):
even right now that them don't really like more enough. Man,
you know, the girls that are just like men are terrible, yes, yes,
for sure, But if they see that I've come across
someone who is a good person, I've seen them be
extremely excited and supportive because they might say, boy, I
really love all but this one, you know, But that's

(12:46):
because they support me, right, like they care so much
about me that they want to see me with somebody.
That's good, But that's once again, thank god I have
friends that are able to separate, right, And I think
so I think like with venting, even even more than anything,
I try to not vent until after I have dealt

(13:08):
with it, like to an extent within myself where I
know how I feel, you know, and then if I
really feel like I need to talk to someone, because
once again, like I think, we have a lot within
ourselves that we don't realize, Like we have a lot
of wisdom, we have a lot of understanding, and so
everybody is filtering everything through their own experiences as well.

(13:31):
So even the person that cares about you the most,
whatever the cases, there's there's a chance that you know,
they might project whether or without them even trying to
be you know, definitely yeah yeah yeah, so so yeah,
be careful who you vent to. But I would even
say I would double down on that to say, you know,

(13:53):
don't invent in like your main practice, your main therapy exactly.
I think the better is like find ways that you
can can listen to yourself before you run and invent
to other people. Absolutely, because I think at the time,
we already you know, sometimes we already know what it

(14:16):
is that we feel or what we need to do.
But it's good to have the wisdom of talking to
to save people.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
But yeah, no, definitely, And I think in addition to
all of what you said that's so brilliantly said, we
go back a little to the first couple of ones
about like boundaries. Right, you don't know what that person
you're inventing to is already dealing with, so you also
have to be cognizant of like, Okay, I have this problem.
Have I tried to figure out how to solve it yet?

Speaker 2 (14:43):
Do I also?

Speaker 1 (14:44):
Do I want somebody just to listen to me? Or
do I want to go to somebody that I really
value their advice and I want them to give me advice.
You know right that you said about like your friend group.
I'm sure you have some friends that you know you
can go to when you just want to hear, yes,
you made the right decision, that was great, Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,
And you know you have those other friends that will

(15:04):
look at you and be like, why did you do that?

Speaker 2 (15:06):
That was stupid?

Speaker 1 (15:07):
You know, tell me that will give you those hard
like they mean, well, but they will have those hard
conversations with you. So I think you're right. It's it's
about knowing who to go to and trying to figure
it out for yourself first, so you're not going to
that person and dependent on their advice because then, guess what,

(15:28):
if it goes wrong, you're probably not gonna like that
person very much because then you're gonna blame them absolutely absolute.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
That is part too, exactly, So you can end up
in a state of of then you feel like some
you know, whether resentment or whatever the case. Yes, it's
term So it's a dance. I mean, life is all
about like those things, like discovering yourself and figuring those
things out as you go along, because you're not gonna

(15:58):
get it right all the time, you know. And then
so it's even more about just being kind to yourself
in the process of your journey too. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
for sure. Yeah, we bring.

Speaker 1 (16:11):
On that one too, all right, ast one. The person said,
may God protect us from people who are trying to
be strategic with us when we are trying to be
genuine with them.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Mm hmmm, I agree, amen to that. That protects us
from that?

Speaker 1 (16:30):
Yeah yeah, yeah, And I think I would imagine I
should say that's something that you have to deal with
a lot, not only being an artist yourself, but as
I mentioned in the introduction, coming from the background you
come from and having to differentiate, and I've spoken about
it in other episodes. I think even when Uncle Tommy,
when your dad was here.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
I spoke about it as well.

Speaker 1 (16:51):
It's it's very difficult to figure out who wants to
be around you just because of that, Yes, and you
genuinely wants to know who you are, you know, so yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you do come across a lot of that,
Like just individuals that even if they're not trying to
hurt you, they may have their own weaknesses and insecurities
that are driving them towards you, and they're seeking something
from you or your environment to aid in what they're

(17:25):
dealing with. So I think in entertainment you do come
across people that really just want to be associated. They
want access to the spaces you are in, they want
to meet people, they want to be seen at the places,
so they are being a bit strategic. But they'm not
even doing to me, you know, just that they are
using what I bring to the table, and it's kind

(17:49):
of expected that you you you do come across people
with those intentions, But as you said, like for me,
when it comes to protection, I just always not just
trust that. What tends to happen with me is is
that folks will just kind of fall away naturally. I yeah,

(18:09):
So I focus on a few things. I focus on
a obviously me being genuine, but then be I guess
just like taking my time, you know what I'm saying,
And I think time reveals all of those things, So
meaning taking my time with with people, with new people,
with whatever that looks like, and letting that reveal itself

(18:31):
to me. And often and oftentimes it does. But you're right,
like you know, it's one of the most painful things
is when you've been genuine and someone has had all
sorts of murky you know, as like murky intentions through process. Yeah,
that's that's something I happened with a couple of times,

(18:51):
and it hurts. But and then when you I mean,
I you know, when you step back and look at it,
you see what they were going through. But that what
that says for me is like, even though I understand
what you may have been going through, why you made
X y Z decision or treated me in X y
Z way, I may not really welcome you back into
the space the way that you were before. Yeah, you know,

(19:14):
so like that's another thing. It's like, if you have
if you have the gift of understanding how people are
feeling or empathy or whatever you don't mean, so that
you have to just like be okay with it. Yes,
that's one thing.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
It took me a while. Yeah, so I appreciate you
sharing that with other people. Hopefully it won't take them
as long. But it took me a while to learn,
just because that's how I was raised, and you know,
I wasn't. I didn't even really realize like who my
dad was or who my uncles were until I was
much older, because my parents in general just raised me

(19:51):
that people are people. So in my mind, I'm thinking, oh,
of course this person wants to be my friend, because
I'm just like a great friend.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
Think like, oh, you're.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
Trying to go to Coachella or you're trying to go
to this show. It doesn't it didn't dawn on me
until it actually happened, and I just I remember so
many times being so devastated and going to my dad
and you know, explaining to him, and you know, being
in the business for so long, yeah, able to provide
advice and things like that. But you just always think

(20:21):
like your parents were born adults and they don't know anything.
I'm like, yeah, but that was back in your day, right, right, right,
But it's the same thing, you know, So yeah, it's unfortunate.
But I think you're one hundred percent right that you know,
you just have to you can control yourself, right, so
you can be genuine and I think the importance is

(20:43):
taking your time. That's definitely one thing I've learned, and
also not ignoring when people show you who they are exactly.
That's what I'm saying exactly.

Speaker 2 (20:53):
There's a balance of it, and I think, yeah, you
can only control your You got only control your reaction.
You can only control your actions in the situation, and
when you see certain things, you just decide do I
want to continue to participate in this or not?

Speaker 1 (21:11):
You know, And it can be on a random Tuesday, guys,
you don't have to wait till the new year, okay, right, exactly?
All right, So that was fun. See nothing crazy. Everyone's
always an earthless when I say the title. But now
we're going to talk the real things. So, Naomi, you

(21:32):
are one of those rare artists, in my opinion, who
carries both history and horizon. I think your sound and
your music is deeply rooted yet beautifully forward facing, and
it radiates like a joy. You know, there's introspection, vulnerability,
and a sense of inner freedom that I connect with

(21:52):
and I find so many other people connect with. And
now you've given us your debut album, which I absolutely
love to paradise and You're welcome. It is to me,
it's like a body of work that feels like sunlight
and emotional clarity all in one.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
I think it's like really really.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
Sonically just incredible, and it's my type of music because
I like a mix of light the old people's stuff.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
But you have you know, like you.

Speaker 1 (22:23):
Just have your own sound and I love that. And
I said it earlier in the introduction, and I've said
it thousands of times on so many episodes, some of
them I've tagged you in with Uncle Kat and your dad.
But I just love the fact that you chose your
own sound and your own path, but you always honor
your parents, and especially on this album, like it really

(22:45):
brought like tears to my eyes because you know, I
think a lot of times sometimes when you are a
child of you know, superstars, like your parents, you can
tend to want to maybe run away from that to
have your own, but you do it so beautifully. It's
like this balance of you're not running away from it,
you're acknowledging it, but you also have a completely different sound.

Speaker 2 (23:08):
Right. Ah yeah, well, thank you very much. Welcome.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
So but before we get into your artistry, I want
to go back, go back and start with your childhood,
right so, and start with you really as a person.
So when you look back at your childhood, was there
a specific moment when you realized music or singing was
your passion?

Speaker 2 (23:34):
Not really, because it's always been the thing is that
it's always been part of me. Okay, it was. There
wasn't a moment where when I was a child I
realized it was my quote unquote passion because I've always
just loved the arts. I just love any expression of
any kind. I've always been, I think, also very curious

(23:57):
in terms of knowing how things work, make things on
my own creating, but not only in a in an
artistic way, if that makes sense. So in other words,
I just always like to create things and or build things,
and that's you know, creativity. I think it stems way

(24:18):
beyond art. I do believe that we all have the
creative gift. You know, God made us in his image,
and so if you think about that, we all have
creative power. It's just that a lot of times we
use the word creativity and keep it exclusive to to arts,
but that's not true. So I've always just loved to
curate and create. So it was never that there was

(24:39):
a moment when I was younger that I felt as
though singing necessarily was my passion. Okay, but I think
I had gotten to us. I had a few pivotal
moments I think in my life where I recognize that
singing allowed me to fuse a lot of aspects of

(25:00):
who I am right as well as the way I
felt and the way I recognized how people felt when
I was sharing my gift, you know. And one of
the driving forces of my career has always been you know,
as you might, it's not a little cheesy or whatever,
but it's like I've just always felt like I was

(25:21):
meant to be a light to others and to find
myself in spaces where I could encourage other people, you know.
So I've always been involved in community work on some levels,
you know, oftentimes it's not necessarily on a massive platform,
but just whether it's just like youth work or volunteer
work or whatever the cases. So that's really been at

(25:43):
the forefront of my why. And then the truth is
I recognized at well, you know, if I allow myself
to use this gift on a larger platform, it hopefully
would open the doors for me to make I guess,
make a difference in other people lives because where you
have influence, you can have you can extend power, and

(26:04):
you can extend you know, finances, and you can extend awareness,
you know. So for me, it wasn't so much about like, oh,
I want to be a singer so I can be
famous and I can be this and I can be that.
It was more of like, I want to consistently be
in a space of being able to help others. But
by using heritage, I have this gift to have this talent,

(26:25):
if I can use it and create a platform and
create a career, then that would also like allow me
to to bring in more support for the different types
of people that come my way, you know. So so
I don't know if that answers the question, but it
was just more of yeah, it's just because I've always

(26:45):
been in the music and you know, as born as
a result of it, not say there was just one
day or one moment, because there are so many moments
that I've added up to this that makes yeah, yeah, no, definitely.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
And I also I also would love to ask because
I know I'm familiar with the music business and I
know that unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, most of it
is not persons that have immense amounts of talent, especially
when it comes to like women in this business that

(27:21):
have like real musical talent, whether it's they play instruments
or sing or do both or I music. And you know,
you think about the Lauren Hills and just the persons
that like really like music is a part of who
they are. And you said it so beautifully, like you
didn't do it because you wanted to be famous all
these other reasons, and you speak of it in such

(27:44):
a way as how persons speak of like doctors or lawyers,
you know, like those jobs where they think, oh, excuse me,
or I want to be a nurse, I want to
help people, And I think It's interesting. I had uncle
Oliver Oliver Samuel's on here, and I always say that
he is a comedian, but he also helps people feel better.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
You know, he also joined the people, you know what
I mean?

Speaker 1 (28:10):
Like, there are so many different ways that you can
help quote unquote people, And so in this business, do
you ever find like moments of difficulty when maybe there
are maybe your art is not as valued because you're
not willing to go down maybe a certain path that
others are willing to or because you more so care

(28:33):
about your music reaching people like you actually care about
your music, like the I don't even know how to
say this, versus just like being famous, Yeah, wanted to
be famous? I mean, clearly right right? Problem for you?

Speaker 2 (28:49):
Yeah? Yeah? I mean the thing is, I think a
lot of people ask this question in terms of, you know,
because you're not willing to do a certain thing. I'll
be honest, it's you know, there isn't this. It's it's
for someone like me in terms of my style and
how I do things. I'm not doing it as a

(29:09):
way of taking a stance, I'll be honest. I'm just
I'm just reflecting what feels most authentic to me. Oh, yeah. Word. Yeah. Yeah,
So I'm saying it's like, so I don't feel this.
I don't feel this resentment of oh well, just because
I don't sing a certain type of song or I
don't dress a certain type of way, then my artists.

(29:30):
I don't think of it like a US versus them,
or like a clean girl versus a dancehall girl or anything.
I don't see it as that, because the truth is,
if I did take a different style, I don't think
it would have worked for me anyway, because I just
don't think it would have matched my vibe that you so, yeah, yeah,
So it's not like a in other words, it's not like,

(29:51):
let's say, for example, how some people might say, oh
Christian versus secular or whatever the case is. You know,
for me, the way that's a chu I used to
do my music, the way that's I choose to everything,
it's really just because it feels the most authentic and
comfortable for me. Right, It's not like I have this
secret desire of doing and being something else that I'm

(30:12):
not doing it, you know, No, definitely not, definitely not.

Speaker 1 (30:16):
I was just more so saying because you just don't
hear that as much these days that somebody is as
passionate about like the.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
Actual art of music.

Speaker 1 (30:27):
So because there's so many, like you know, we can
go on YouTube right now and find someone that has
fifty billion views and maybe they don't sound as great,
but they're beautiful, you know.

Speaker 2 (30:38):
In a character way or they're dressed a certain way.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
So it's more of just the idea of because you
actually care about something that's that means a lot to you.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
This is not just something.

Speaker 1 (30:50):
You like you said you want a little girl. You
don't have that story where you say, oh, I was
watching Janet Jackson and I said I read that one. Kay, yeah,
like you had your mom and dad like create music
in front of me, like create music. So that feeling
like when I tell people how I feel about music,
they don't understand. They listen to music differently than I.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
Do because I've grown up around.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
Musicians literally creating a song in front of my eyes.
I didn't grow up a rum machines and things like that.
So when I heard music, or when I say I
love someone's music, I'm literally listening to the harmonies. I'm
listening to how the instruments sound together. I'm listening to
music differently so I was just more so saying, like,

(31:34):
from that perspective, is it difficult to navigate because music,
you know, labels aren't even really a thing anymore. Everyone's
doing their own thing. Everyone wants to be a star,
and then you know, we're Jamaica, so everyone is a star,
you know. So that's more where I was coming from.
I definitely know from your like, yeah, you present yourself.

(31:56):
I definitely know that's not a thing, But I just
thought it might be a little different because you're so
like intertwined in your music and you're just so passionate
about what you do that it could just be like, Okay, well,
you know, I'll stick with my passion, but I realize
I may not get to this point because people are

(32:16):
interested in surface level.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
That's more about what I was thinking. Yeah, I mean,
I guess that's a good question in terms of that,
but I don't know. I mean, actually it's a you know,
I guess maybe where I'm at in my creative journey,
and you probably are hearing that in the music. I
I just feel as though, okay, so for example, like

(32:40):
you see how what I've created has somehow resonated with
you right at the end of the day. I'm sure
that there are many other people that are. They may
not be exactly like you necessarily, but that they would
resonate with them. I think I don't really pay attention
to what Okay, you know this is trending or that's trending.

(33:04):
The boy is that gonna work for me? Only because
I feel as though we live in a really we
live on a really big planet. Yeah, and so in
my mind, there has to be something for everybody. Yeah,
you know what I mean. And if and if what
I'm making is coming from me, like it is flowing

(33:24):
from me, then it must be for somebody, you know
what I'm saying, meaning like it it came out of somewhere,
you know, fromout mind place. But the fact that I
felt inspired to make it, to me, what that shows
is there has to be a space for it, you
know what I'm saying. I love that that's fairy. Yes,

(33:46):
I don't really think too hard about like what, you know,
what people seem to like or what people want, because
I'm not I've never been driven driven by that. I'm
more driven by, you know, kind of how I'm experiencing life.
And then I just trust that there must be somebody
out there that this is foreign. Because also when I

(34:07):
when I think about the type of artists that like,
if you think about music that you've been listening to
or whatever the case is, imagine if they didn't make
those songs, then you would be stuck with everything else,
you know what I mean? It's true. So if you
have a certain like let's say, for example, you love
an artist like I don't know, like let's say sisso right,

(34:34):
and you know, Cissil has a very unique style. She
sings about various specific things, whatever the case is. But
what if Cizl like decided to not be as weird
and you know, kind of otherworldly as she is, and
she just followed the trend, and what would happen is
there's a whole generation an audience of people that would

(34:56):
miss that would be like missing what they want because
obviously she created something that somebody wants, right you know.
So so yeah, I just have you know, over the
especially with making this album, I just got to a place,
so I'm just gonna make what I feel is the
most authentic representation of me and then just kind of

(35:17):
know that that will attract attract and bringing the people
that it was made for I know.

Speaker 1 (35:26):
Yeah, yeah, that's a really positive outlook on it. And
you're blessed to be able to do that, because I
know sometimes there's situations where you know, artists are forced
like you were, just that's a great example, like certain
sounds or they might say like, oh, but you've been
doing this sound for ten years and do something different,
you know what I mean. So I think that's really

(35:47):
a blessing that you're able to do that, and that
you yeah, with that, you know, and just with the
fact that whoever it resonates with, it will resonate with and.

Speaker 2 (35:57):
Yeah, exactly. And I think and I think also another
thing to like for me, when I think about music,
I do see it as I do see it as
almost like I see that you're planting, you know, in
the world, and you know, you may not know when

(36:19):
or how it's going to make its biggest impact. So
so yeah, like I think, I think obviously we are
in a fast paced world where everyone's like very much
focused on I guess, like you know, everyone's focused on
I want to be this, I want to be that,
I want to win the Grammy or d da da da.

(36:40):
But yeah, I feel as though musicians a part of
our job is to like plant these seeds of art.
And because you know, for example, like there's certain songs
that even like Pretty Little Baby, for example, I think
that song is from like nineteen thirties or like the

(37:02):
nineteen fifties, we have to double check, but just to say,
I don't know, I wasn't around when that song was
first created, right, right, let's see, let's google it. But
I guess in my mind it's like, look at just
just just a perfect example of how music takes life
or nineteen sixty.

Speaker 1 (37:21):
Two, okay, still before our time, so.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
Yeah, there is. It's like it was not a major
hit at the time, and then all of a sudden
it became a viral hit. This in this era. Yeah,
So I guess I just see it as like as
I've gotten to a place where I'm not sitting on
focusing on Okay, I want to be the biggest and
the baddest of this that that because I feel as though,
if it's gonna happen, it's just gonna happen naturally. I

(37:47):
love that, right. It's not because I don't believe I'm
I'm capable of that. I don't believe I'm you know.
But it's just more of it. I'm not driven by that.
I'm more driven by the quality of what I'm making.
I'm driven by like you know, so for example, what
you've shared about your how you feel about the album
and the music and all that stuff. Like, I think

(38:09):
I'm driven by that, by the quality of what I'm
putting out there, by how it's resonating with people. For me,
resonance is really important. I'm just more concerned.

Speaker 3 (38:20):
That that that I'm pouring from a pure place in
my heart and that it's going to resonate with the
people that these stories were made for, you know, because
I think we're all made to do something for one another,
you know, Like there's certain movies who would know that,
like something like Lord of the Rings like this, you know,
this author created this whole different universe and it became

(38:45):
a generational moment in film art and as well in.

Speaker 2 (38:50):
Literature because it's a book first. Same for Harry Potter,
you know, so right and more think about resonance. I
think about about making sure that where it's coming from.
For me, it's just from a as I said, a
pure and genuine place, knowing that it's going to land
it's gonna land, it's gonna find its home, you know,

(39:11):
and and my tribe is building and that's what that's
that's it. Yeah, and the rest will come. I guess.
It's like the rest will come. You know. I'm a
big believer in I mean, I'm I'm I'm rooted in
the Christian faith, but you know, I take my time
to appreciate and understand many other ways of spirituality. But

(39:34):
there's a Bible verse that says, seek first the Kingdom
of God, and all other things will be added on
to you. And some people think seek first the Kingdom
of God is like seek the church or seek whatever.
But when I think about seeking the Kingdom of God,
I just think it's about seeking out love first, yeah,
you know, and then all other things will be added.
So for me, I do it for the love of

(39:55):
the music. I do it for the love of the culture,
the love I have for myself, the love for my audience,
you know, and and the love for reggae. And then
I just believe that everything else will will flow from
that place, you know. So it's it's it's a very
you know, altruistic perspective, I guess. But I've just found

(40:19):
that when I tie my value to other things, when
I think about, oh, I want to be the this,
and I want to be the that, and I want
to be the you know, I want the order, I
want the title. And I've just found that when you
tie for me, when I tie myself to those things
and they become what I define myself by, all those
things can change in a heartbeat, you know, very insightful. Yeah,

(40:43):
all of these things in the physical world, Like if
you are the number one artists on top of the
charts or whatever, something happened tomorrow that's no longer the case,
and then what Yeah, you know, there's the way that
things can shift and change. And you know, just last
just last month, people literally went from one day having

(41:03):
their homes and then the next day. So yeah, exactly.
So I just I've gotten to a place where I'm
just more focused on the qualitative internal values because those
those will never change and those will only evolve, and
nobody can take those away from you, absolutely, you know.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
So yeah, Baly said, no, definitely, And I think just
to close the loop on that, I think that the
choice that you've made in all of what you just said,
there's peace in that, right because you're controlling how you
feel about something and not letting you know, outside entities
control you.

Speaker 2 (41:42):
That's beautifully said.

Speaker 1 (41:45):
All right, so now let us step into the world
you've created. Welcome to paradise. And I'd love to know
what the hmm, I guess what the emotional or spiritual
spark was that told you, like, okay, it's time for
my debut album, like this is the time.

Speaker 2 (42:06):
M well, so I started, I guess working and visualizing
and dreaming this album actually the end of close to
the what people might call the fall of twenty twenty two. Okay,
so twenty twenty to twenty twenty one, I had put
up music during the pandemic with Wallshi Fire. It was

(42:28):
a project called star Girl, and I always knew that
after that, a full length album was gonna come, okay,
and I knew that I want I always knew that
I wanted that project to have been like an elevation
from the Stargirl mixtape, you know, and it was supposed
to have felt like some level of growth. So I
was actually going to continue in the star genre of

(42:51):
like you know, whether the album was going to be
called Starlight or Superstar or something like that. Okay, you know,
and by the fall of twenty twenty two, I began
dreaming up like what's the concept of this album or
you know, who do I want to be through this
next chapter of creativity. And the funny thing is that,

(43:15):
like I was about to start working on a project,
let's say, like by October of twenty twenty two, because
I had a lot of demos recorded, I had a
whole songs put down already, like twelve songs. I was like, okay,
I could maybe you know, start with these and go
from there. And then I ended up getting booked to
do the movie right to play for those of you

(43:39):
that don't, Yeah, So then the movie came and so
by I mean, I'll never forget because my flight date
to go to London was November eleventh, twenty two and
eleventh stop. Yeah, yeah, so that was the day when
my flight was booked. And so I go over to
London and of course, as you know, of course you
get caught up, not caught up, but my time is

(43:59):
not can up with this movie. And I was like, okay, well,
I'll get back to this album thing eventually. But of course,
like between being on set for the project, I mean
for the movie, as well as taking more time to
think through what I wanted. I knew a few things.
The first thing was that I knew I wanted the

(44:20):
project to be a reflection of Paradise almost like if
Paradise Plum, which is one of my songs, which is
kind of like my breakout single as people would call it,
kind of thought to myself like, if Paradise Plum had
an album, what would that sound like? That was one
because I realized that through that song itself, I defined

(44:41):
my own lane music right right, There's some very specific
components that made Paradise Plum what it is that those things,
to me feel they're synonymous with Naomika on I agree,
you know, so musically what that sounds like, it's like
there's a foundation reggae kind of sample or you know,
as you said, like horns. There's a vintage feel to it,

(45:02):
but you know there's there's also like hip hop drums,
right or modern drums. And then to seal it off,
my style of singing is really not necessarily traditional reggae singing.
It as though like I write and I sing more
like people might consider it more like a pop R
and B style, So those are like, that's part of

(45:25):
my formula. Like if someone was like they wanted to
copy the formula, that is it. But obviously you know
you can't copy me, right, So I knew that. I
knew that. I knew that the project I wanted it
to feel that way. And then that was one and
then two. As I said, I knew I wanted to

(45:46):
really amplify the concept of paradise. So while I was
in London working on this movie, you know, as time
would have it, I ended up getting a chance to
meet with this producer, Todd la Te who it's a
good friend of one of my favorite musical partners, Rounkus.
Rouncas was like, oh, since you're in London, you should

(46:07):
go link with Toddler, and I was like okay, And
it wasn't. I wasn't thinking about the album at all.
But what happened is Toddler and I just ended up
making like two songs in one day, and the chemistry
was just really great. I just was really energized and
I just felt this safety with him as a person.
Until a week or so later I told him, I said, boy,

(46:29):
I've been working on this album. Would you be interested
in in co producing it with me because I wanted
a producing partner, you know, I knew that I wanted
to collaborate with someone that could help me put the
album together. You know that also was a producer and
stuff like that, and so that's where that came from.
It was really well, I was in London. I had

(46:50):
this idea fun album, and I played a lot of
the demos for him and I told him what the
creative direction was sonically. As I said, I knew what
I knew what the sonic of the album was going
to be. No, I didn't know exactly what storytelling would
have been, but I knew what I wanted to sound like,
and I knew what I wanted it to feel like.
And then we just went from there and truthfully, we

(47:11):
ended up making like a whole new Badge of songs.
You know that.

Speaker 1 (47:15):
Yeah, I love that, And you mentioned it briefly, but
there is a like a sonic expansiveness in your work right.
It blends reggae pop like you mentioned R and B,
and there's modern Caribbean production like the drums, the horns,
all of that, which I just it's like music to
my ears, you know, real music. So which track would

(47:39):
you say actually challenged you the most creatively?

Speaker 2 (47:43):
Hmmm, good question, challenged me the most creatively on the
album because you.

Speaker 1 (47:53):
Can tell you took your time. You can tell you
took your time like which with each song. So I
just want know that's a good question.

Speaker 2 (48:01):
Let me look at the tracks, because you know, it's
so funny even though like there's this album just so
you know, there's like way more songs that didn't make it.
Really yeah, I mean that's just a normal thing. So
when people say, what's your this, I'm like, actually, just
which ones made it? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, that's so funny.

(48:22):
So if I don't like none of these songs, when
I look at them, I feel the word of challenge honestly,
because each song I just felt like I really enjoyed
working through each song. But okay, yeah, but no. But

(48:42):
but the thing is that I would say, I wouldn't say,
I don't know if this is a creative challenge. But
there's a few songs on the project where I remember
constantly wanting to redo certain parts of them, okay, and
then we always kept ending up back with what was

(49:03):
originally there. So I know true lies. So for example,
true Lies vocal and True Lies is probably from the
first demo. And I'm actually the kind of artist that
doesn't like, like, there's some people who do their vocals
one time and that's it. Yeah, but I'm kind of
the reverse. Like as a singer. Singer, I always like

(49:25):
to if a demo something a couple months later, I
may not rewrite, but I might sing something differently, or
I hear a new ad labe, or I hear a
different harmony. And the funniest thing is like every single
time I try to touch True Lies, it just ruined it.
So it's like I was like, yeah, I just had
to know this. I literally was like, I need to

(49:48):
leave this as is. Yeah, the True Lies was one
of those. Okay, definitely one of those. And then I
think the same for Cherry on Top, where really like
meaning I may have switched there maybe maybe like three
lyrics that we've changed, but otherwise everything from Cherry is

(50:10):
the same from the first recording. Wow, you know, And
that was I think those I mean, yeah, maybe those
were challenges for me because I kept thinking there was
a way to improve it, and it's like the songs
just kept saying to me, no, man, it's good, you know. Yeah,
you know and so funny. Yeah, that's that is. That

(50:31):
is one of the things for me. Imagine now, which
is a ballad, that's a song. I wouldn't say it
wasn't a challenge, but it's like I really made short
as best as I could to take my time with
with it because it's a very slow song. It's a
very meaningful song. Right, It didn't feel challenging, but it

(50:51):
was like it took a lot of time because once again,
like I was tweaking it so much. And then it's
like did you ruin it because you tweeked it too much? Etcetera, etcetera.
So yeah, and when I want to go back and
re record, it's not even like I don't even trust myself.
It's just more of a little of more things. I
I just love to. I love to explore, I love

(51:11):
to improve, I love to I guess actually excellent as possible.
It's not like I listened and say, oh, this was
good enough, you know, but how could it be better?
How could it be better? Yeah? You know, and enough
times better better. It's not always always singing more or
you did that, you know better. It could even be
an energy, It could be the expression of a word,

(51:33):
it could be the tone of very true. Yeah. Yeah,
so I I just as I said, like, I tried
to give myself space to do that, but when I'm
finding that the song is losing its essence, I take
my hands off of it and I'm like, okay.

Speaker 1 (51:46):
Yeah, well it sounds perfect to me.

Speaker 2 (51:48):
So all right.

Speaker 1 (51:52):
So if you could take a listener's hand and kind
of guide them through the album, so I guess you
really would have to take their hand, but you know,
I mean, I don't mean in the literal sense, but
if you could take their air perhaps and guide them
through the album, what feeling do you want them to
carry with them after they hear the final song, so
that you can imagine in this case.

Speaker 2 (52:14):
M hm, well, what feeling I think I'd want them
to feel. I think open and very safe? Yea, I
love it. Yeah, yeah, I think. I think. I think
peace is one of the most expensive things that we
can have. And the truth is that like peace is

(52:41):
as I said, like I think it's it's not not
that it's difficult to come by, but it's not everybody
wakes up in peace. Not everybody goes to sleep at peace,
Not everybody has peace of mind. You know, so I
think I think openness and safety and joy as well,
you know, like we take for granted like just genuinely

(53:04):
being happy. Yeah, you know, like I think that's where
like there's so many people of all age age groups
that are not well. Many people are just not well
right now. Yeah, I just don't work of a mental
health crisis as just a society, and it's we've just

(53:26):
we've become so distracted, so but stimulated. Many of us
just don't feel well. And I mean even for me,
like I have to take certain steps at all times
to protect my mental health and to take care and
not even protect, like to literally take care of myself
so that I can experience the beauty of life because
you miss not of us missing out on it, you know. True.

(53:51):
So yeah, if I could hold somebody's hand, I want him
to feel open. I want him to feel safe, joyful
and a lot of love. Like that's what paradise is,
you know that? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (54:02):
Yeah, beautiful beautifully said Okay, so two more questions before
our final segment. You are in a unique position, and
I mentioned it before. You're the daughter of Jamaican icons
icons period, but you're also a woman fully shaping her
own lane, and with this album, I just love that,

(54:22):
Aunt Carleen, your mom was really at the center of
this album, and I always love her voice. It's so
like soothing and calming, you know. But it also presented
a sense of strength as a woman for the different
topics that you were speaking about, right, So speaking about
woman and womanhood, how have you navigated womanhood and self

(54:43):
definition in an industry that, as we spoke about earlier,
can be demanding, especially of women.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
Yeah, boy, that's that's an ongoing It's an ongoing thing,
you know. I think where I'm at no is I
don't se men as a competition. Right. That's been the
most powerful part of my woman womanhood journey in music
is I no longer even think about men and their

(55:11):
music and their presence as a competition to me. I
do believe that like, as a woman, I add to
the room and that I'm needed in the spaces that
I'm in, And so that's freed me up to literally
be exactly who I meant to be. How I've navigated
that where I'm at, No, it's just really also just

(55:32):
like recognizing the magic of what being a woman is
and knowing that like you can't really replace us, right,
We're needed in every space that we're in, and so
what it's allowed me to do is to really once again,
like just be myself versus comparing. I think in the

(55:53):
feminist movement, we were empowered so much that we started
to compete, whereas, like I think, we always meant to
compliment each other, yeah yeah, and balance and balance each
other out, versus let me dominate this man. But it's
because obviously, yes, men have have put women down, so
we're trying to one up on them. But I think

(56:16):
that's the opposite of what femininity represents. I think femininity
is literally just being strong in who we are and
letting that shine. And it does because I mean, if
you look at the music industry overall, it might be
male dominated in my genre, but in general, women are
always at the forefront of music absolutely right, Like, if

(56:39):
you look at the music industry right now, some of
the best top selling female artists are well, it's all
women tailors with Beyonce, Rihanna, et cetera. You know what
I mean. So thought about that, but that's yeah true.
You look at the global music landscape, women women are
really really taking it home. So you're right, So so

(57:02):
I think for me, yeah, just the less I like,
the less I focus on on competition and the more
I just focus on complimenting and knowing that and also
just reminding myself that, yeah, there needs to be a
Naomica on in the world. There you go. It just
allows me to be me in the music space and

(57:24):
not trying to be one. Yeah, not trying to be
what you think people want because people don't even know
what they're wanting them and they don't know what they want.
And then on top of that, like if I am
busy being somebody else, then like the person who needed me,
they're they're they're sitting there waiting for me. They don't

(57:45):
even know you know what I'm saying. Like when you
think about the artists that have all inspired us at
different times in our lives, like just imagine if they
didn't show up as their most authentic self. So you know,
then it's like, Yo, what would I have done without
x y Z song by this artist? You know, Like
if Lizzo didn't show up as her authentic self when

(58:05):
she when she started doing music, like imagine the thousands
of women that needed her, you know, and if she
tried to be somebody else in her big break or whatever,
you know, who would have like it's just it's if
you think of I don't know, if you look at
it as like a snowball effect. No, you're absolutely. Yeah.
So that's how I've I've been navigating it. It's been,

(58:28):
it's it has been challenging on many levels. As I said,
especially at first, you know, you're just taking a lot
and looking around. He's seeing what you know, You're just
trying to find your way. But I think where I'm at, no,
she's not very like I'm just very relaxed about all
of it. I love that. Yeah, yeah, because I found

(58:52):
that my best work comes when I'm when I'm when
I'm most like relaxed and at peace from that, even
if I'm in a place of like hurt, pain or
whatever the case is. But yeah, yeah, so I've just
been focusing on letting that be the ankle, and I
think it brings out the best in me. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
And last, but not least, on a more somber note,
you spoke about it a little bit earlier, but Jamaica's
obviously for those people that don't know, I don't know
who would not know at this point, but we have
listeners all over the world, so it is possible. Jamaica
has been through a devastating hurricane and it's going to

(59:37):
take a while to build back up. It's definitely not
something that's going to end this month or in six months,
or maybe even in a year. I think it's just
going to be an ongoing thing. But I remember immediately
when I heard about Saint Elizabeth, I asked my dad
if he checked on Uncle Tommy, because I remember him
explaining to me, like, you know, him being born there

(01:00:00):
and you know, all his memories and things like that,
and that's like the first thing that I thought of, like,
you know, I wonder if his family's okay, and like
even how he was describing like this childhood memory to
me of this place where he went. I was thinking
about that. So I just wanted to first like check
on you and your family, and you know, I hope
everybody is as okay as they can be. And just

(01:00:20):
if you could kind of just say how you're providing
assistance in any way. I know you're doing a lot
of different things, and how others could contribute as well,
that would be great.

Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
Yeah, Well, thank you for asking. You know, we are
doing fine. Just like many places, as you can see online.
You know, the there's a lot of devastation in my
dad's hometown. Most people have lost their homes, most people
have you know, just a lot of damage that they

(01:00:55):
have to deal with, you know. But the good thing
is that most you know, there have not been as
many lives lost as was anticipated. So yeah, so thank
you for asking. I mean, we we are all okay
in that regard, but in terms of ways that we
are working towards helping. So at the moment, between our

(01:01:21):
family connections in the I guess in the church community,
we are raising funds to rebuild or to put back
roofs on a church that my dad's uncle is a
pastor of and create that as a community and turn
that into a community hub, you know, just to have
a space, a safe space where whether it's for supplies,

(01:01:44):
for clothing, donations, et cetera. Because you know, that's the
thing like at this point in time, with the recovery efforts,
it's really been a community led thing while the different
larger organizations come in and do what they can. So
that's one of the things we've been doing is garnering
support for new markets in Saint Elizabeth specifically to help

(01:02:08):
create this, you know, a centralized space for relief. And
then separately from that, I am part of the What
Good Jamaica I guess team, So What Good LAS? Yeah,
So What Good LA is a nonprofit in the US
founded by Etienne Maurice. He's Shirley Ralphson. So you know,

(01:02:34):
Auntie Cheryl is not in charge of it, but she's
our major endoorsal if you want to call it that.
And you know, they've we've raised over two hundred K,
the two hundred thousand US for Jamaica relief efforts. And
our goal as an organization is too is to actually
empower people on the ground that are already out there

(01:02:57):
doing the work. So this week as far as once
again more sirens. Yeah, So for example, this week we
are disseminating funds to about five different grassroots organizations that
are actively out there. So for all, what we're looking at,
what we've been focusing on, is how can we empower

(01:03:17):
those that are in the field right instead of doubling
up on efforts and stuff like that. And that's just
phase one of our of the Walk Good Jamaica campaign,
you know. So those are some of the ways. And
then even this past weekend or rather yes on Monday
here in New York, I did an album listening event

(01:03:38):
and we made sure to include the Walk Good donations
into the whole night, just to keep the message going.
So I think at this point in time, with the
recovery efforts after Hurricane Melissa, it's really about consistent messaging
and awareness. There's not really much, you know, because it

(01:03:59):
is a longer term recovery. We just have we as
Jamaicans just have to keep keep pushing, yeah, letting people
know that we need aid, we need help, and doing
what we can. And there's a lot of people, there
is a lots of people out there doing some great
things and oh absolutely, yeah, yeah, yeah to me.

Speaker 1 (01:04:17):
That for sure, everybody's doing their thing and trying to contribute,
you know, in any way that they can. And you know,
I also want people to know that even if you
can't help right now for whatever reason, you'll have a
chance to help, because, like you said, this is an
ongoing thing. And exactly I just find that unfortunately, because
of social media, some people have been like judged, you know,

(01:04:40):
who's not posting this and you know, and I just
I want people to know, like you don't. You don't
even have to post that you're helping, like just help,
you know what I mean, because some people might be
not afraid but think like oh, I can only donate
fifty dollars and I don't want to post that or
anything helps at this point, you know. So like you said,

(01:05:02):
whatever organization you feel compelled to contribute to, just make
sure that they're reputable.

Speaker 2 (01:05:07):
I would say, exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:05:09):
I think it's really important. I love that you mentioned
that you and what good La you're you know, donating
to grassroots organizations because I think it's important as the
diaspora to know that the money or the assistance is
going directly to these communities exactly. You know, especially no,
because the urgency is no. They don't have time to

(01:05:30):
wait on larger organizations, you know. And I know like
Tuxis catering, they're doing like food deliveries like that. So
everyone is doing their part, which I love to see.
But I'm not surprised because that's really who we are
as a community, exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:05:46):
I mean, that's the thing. One I have, this saying
that I don't feel as I don't feel Jamaicans are
going to rest until we see restoration. Yeah, you know,
because it's it's it's it's nobody wants to see their
fellow countrymen, you know, their fellow brother and sister living.

(01:06:06):
That's not who we are as Jamaicans like we. I
don't think we we would ever feel comfortable. I don't
think anyone would feel comfortable just knowing that so many
people are in that state.

Speaker 1 (01:06:19):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, one hundred percent. And quickly I wanted
to ask. I'm pretty sure I can find the link
because I had put it on my page too for
a walk good. But is there a link for the
new Market church roof reebuilding that you guys are doing
that I could share?

Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
Sure? Sure, I think I do believe what we did
for that is my brother who passes a church in California.
We're doing donations through that, just so that it's you know,
all squared away so I can get thank Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:06:47):
Okay, yeah, so if you just get me that, then
I can include it in the description and then that
way people can just go like straight to their Sure.

Speaker 2 (01:06:54):
Sure, thank you. So for our.

Speaker 1 (01:06:59):
Final secon meant, I'm going to ask you a few
rapid fire questions, and I would like you to answer
with the first thing that comes to mind. Okay, okay,
all right, name your I know this is probably gonna
be hard, but that's the point. They give your favorite song,
a favorite song of your mom's.

Speaker 2 (01:07:17):
So my favorite song of one of my favorite songs
of my mom's. It's actually a deep cut song called
zimn schism Ah. Okay, you know, it's just it it's
very roots. See, it's it's more about dub style and
it's very it's actually about like gun violence, and it's
just a different part of her that you know, not

(01:07:40):
many people know it's, excepting the sound community, so vinyl collectors.
I really love that song. Yeah. Yeah, it's a very
early it's I don't know what year it is, Yeah,
definitely before I was born. Yeah, with Sly and Robbie.
So it's it's just very's a lot of depth to it. Oh.

Speaker 1 (01:08:02):
I have to ask Uncle Fly about that, and I
have to look at myself because I.

Speaker 2 (01:08:08):
Very nice. Okay, all right.

Speaker 1 (01:08:10):
What is your go to comfort food?

Speaker 2 (01:08:15):
Hm? Hmmm, Ramen for sure?

Speaker 1 (01:08:18):
Ah, okay, and do you have I know sometimes ramen
it can come with or without the egg do you
get the egg?

Speaker 2 (01:08:25):
Okay, you're like, I have to have the egg? Yes,
all right.

Speaker 1 (01:08:31):
What is a phrase or affirmation that you've been repeating
to yourself lately?

Speaker 2 (01:08:37):
I'm always exactly where I'm supposed to be.

Speaker 1 (01:08:40):
M m ive that and very fitting for everything you've
shared today.

Speaker 2 (01:08:44):
For sure. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:08:47):
Name an artist from any genre that you dream of
collaborating with.

Speaker 2 (01:08:52):
There's too many.

Speaker 1 (01:08:54):
Okay, how about an artist from the R and B
genre and the reggae genre with that help.

Speaker 2 (01:09:03):
Sure, let's see. So no reggae. I can't have a
going to that because I would say in army mm hmm,
I listened to a lot of snow a legir, I
listened to a lot of Cleo Soul. I listened to

(01:09:25):
a lot of Lean Lahavas. You know, so I would
just like to collaborate with the people that I listened to.

Speaker 1 (01:09:31):
Yeah, Oh my gosh, that's so beautiful your sound together.

Speaker 2 (01:09:35):
Yeah, exactly. There's another artist well, her name is also Naomi.
She's actually Danish, but she's signed to Drake's label. Her
name is Naomi Sharon. Oh that's so interesting. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, beautiful, beautiful.
You know, I have to look her up. That's that
would be.

Speaker 1 (01:09:55):
But you know, all these persons are not outo the
realm of possibility for no, not that. Yeah, that's definitely
I'm sure that definitely could come true.

Speaker 2 (01:10:04):
No. Yeah, and even oh Klie might be interesting, I think,
oh yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:10:12):
That would be a different sound collaboratively, Yeah, for sure. Okay,
a couple more. What is a city or name a
city I should say that creatively energizes you?

Speaker 2 (01:10:24):
New York? Yeah, yeah, some reason.

Speaker 1 (01:10:27):
As soon as I ended, I was like, I bet
she's gonna say New.

Speaker 2 (01:10:29):
York, Yeah, New York, Toronto, Toronto. Okay, well yeah, I
would say also, you know what, well, I can't say
it's a city, but yeah, I've had like I mean,
I really enjoyed when I've visited. I really enjoyed Portugal.
Oh okay, I didn't spend as much time, but I
feel like it's somewhere I could actually escape to and

(01:10:52):
and and be guys. Yeah nice.

Speaker 1 (01:10:55):
And I remember your dad mentioned that you were going
to Japan at the time, did you.

Speaker 2 (01:11:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:11:01):
My dad always tells me Japan is just so different,
and like, yeah, I would imagine creatively that would be
a great place. But how did it make you feel
Oh man, I mean I felt.

Speaker 2 (01:11:13):
I don't. I wouldn't say I felt inspired to do
any creating. I just wanted to exploit it. Okay. No, no,
I loved it. No, it's just like it's it's it's
it's a I think it is an inspiring place from
a creative standpoint because there's so much innovation there, right right,
that's what I've heard.

Speaker 1 (01:11:31):
That's definitely my list of I want to go to.

Speaker 2 (01:11:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:11:35):
Okay, and two more, Name a Caribbean childhood memory you'd
want your future children to experience one day if you
have children.

Speaker 2 (01:11:47):
Mmm. I think everyone should be able to, like, I think,
climb a tree. Okay, but sitting at a fruit tree
and just I used to like sit in tree is
the fruits. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, real Caribbean childhood. Yeah,
like like be able to like climb a tree and

(01:12:09):
sit on on the branch and eat whatever that fruit is. Yeah,
you know, until you belly hurt you. Yeah. But I
think that that's like a top tier because it's it's
almost like being in a jungle book.

Speaker 1 (01:12:23):
You're just like, yeah, oh my god, that's so yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:12:27):
And then I think that's not true. Yeah, And I
think every child should also be able to have like
that memory of of of of like setting up racing
like you know, so many in so many other could
like in our culture, it's one of the things we're playing,
Like running against each other is actually like a whole game.

Speaker 1 (01:12:45):
Yes, you know, like sports day that's okey, right but right, yeah,
not just sports day, but actually like that's just oh
you are a race.

Speaker 2 (01:12:54):
Oh just in generally mean general. Yeah, that was a
memory for me, Like I'm yeah, we used to like
one of the things we used to do is we
we used to race each other, yeah, you know and
then gets it go yeah and do like full on
relays and all that kind of stuff. So I think
that's that's something.

Speaker 1 (01:13:13):
Yeah, No, definitely that's true. I definitely think the racing
also a key one for me. I don't know if
this was one for you too, but going to Devin
house and I remember speaking of Antie Cheryl. Her mom
had the store there next to like the package sh
that was my middle food, so that was my favorite.

Speaker 2 (01:13:31):
Mad Yeah, yeah, that's true, that's true. Definitely definitely, no,
for sure.

Speaker 1 (01:13:37):
All right, And the final question before I do my
thank you Uncle Tommy will be turning eighty next year,
which I think is such a blessing. So I wanted
to ask you, when you think of yourself at eighty,
looking back at your life, what do you hope that
you're most proud of.

Speaker 2 (01:13:58):
I think I would I would just hope that I left.
You know, I think two things. I think I would
like to know that I was a blessing to others,
but also that my family, my family felt nurtured and
cared for and loved. And then finally that I would

(01:14:23):
just be at peace with myself like that I would
just be like very proud of me, yeah, you know,
and not you know, just that I would not feel
any regrets, but I would feel a lot of like
joy that, Okay, I was able to live this full life,
and I would be in a place of wanting to

(01:14:46):
share that with others. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:14:48):
I love that, beautifully said, Beautifully said. Okay, So this
is my thank you segment. And I always tell people
about to cry because I'm a crier, but it's just
kind of my thing. I like to thank people for
coming here. So, Naomi, it's been an absolute joy to
share this space with you today. I really appreciate you

(01:15:09):
coming to talk the things with me and putting a
positive spin on talking the things as I like to do.
I think there's something remarkable about the way that you've
explained that you move through the world. I think that
you carry purpose like it's a rhythm that only you

(01:15:30):
can play, you know, steady grounded and kind of this
sense of being unstoppable, which I think is great and
I think that you have to have in this industry,
right correct, Yeah, And listening to you speak about your journey,
your faith, your family, your creative discipline, and your beautiful
album Welcome to Paradise, to me, it's clear that you're

(01:15:54):
a woman who walks with intention, and I think that's
so important and so like valuable just in these times
in general. I think that you're a woman that knows
that stepping into your power is not ego centered, but
it's an act of service. And I think that and
we talked about it throughout this episode. But you're serving joy, liberation, representation,

(01:16:18):
and excellence, particularly Caribbean excellence, in a way that is vibrant, modern,
and undeniably yours. And when what your building, excuse me,
is bigger than music because of where you come from
and who you are. It's almost as though it's legacy work,
it's soul work, it's cultural work. And I hope that

(01:16:42):
this conversation reminded you of that, of how much you've
already poured into the world and how much light that
you have left to give. So thank you for your honesty, courage,
your light, your voice, your insights, and for choosing to
show up in the fullness of who you are. I
think that you have so much to be proud of,

(01:17:03):
not just as an artist, but as a woman standing
firmly in her purpose.

Speaker 2 (01:17:09):
So yeah, thanks for coming to talk with me. Thank you,
and thank you for being so intentional with the conversation
and of course creating a space that we could really
talk about things.

Speaker 1 (01:17:21):
Yes, of course, of course, it's such a pleasure having you,
and yeah, I look forward to having you back. I
look forward to having you back to talk about your
Grammy nomination because I feel it in my spirits.

Speaker 2 (01:17:35):
Wow, we received that, Yes, so you heard it here first. No,
you have to come back, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:17:44):
But this album is so beautiful. I can't stop listening
to it. And yeah, I definitely think this is like
some of your greatest works. So congratulations to you.

Speaker 2 (01:17:55):
Thank you very much. And yeah, and I mean respect
to you as a woman as you know woman, respect
you know, for just choosing to create a space to
tell stories. You know, it's it's it's it's great when
we're consistently creating our own spaces. So Congress, thank you,

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The Alchemy of Becoming: A Path to Paradise | Ft. Naomi Cowan

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The Alchemy of Becoming: A Path to Paradise | Ft. Naomi Cowan